Notes
Very fun Charlie Post Classic 15k with incredible RPI representation! Pat and Rob returned for another go, and we added Jarrett, Shannon, and Joef this time around, plus Ronnie, Jacquie, and Lindsay joined too... we needed two cars! Overall a really fun day. I mean, I don't love that I got stomped by Jarrett and Rob in the last 5k but I really don't have anything to be upset about - I ran a very solid race and was beaten by faster/fitter runners. Officially a 1:00 PR which is misleading of course considering Kiawah, but it's still definitely the fastest 15k I've run.
The only surprise as we started the race was that there were a couple people missing up front (Jurdan, Jay) but there wasn't anyone there that I didn't expect to see. After a couple minutes, MB was out front and he was followed by a group that included the WOL owner Tom, NYU grad Neil, Chris Bailey, Eric Ashton, one 5k guy, then Jarrett and me. I guess we were out a little hot but I was trying to go by feel and didn't check my watch until the beep, which was weirdly early compared to the mile marker and Jarrett's watch. Mile 2 went in the other direction - Jarrett's watch said we were HOT but mine was saying slow the one time I glanced at it (but it didn't feel slow!). At some point in that mile, Rob closed the small gap to us and we closed the gap on EA and all packed up together. I was trying to keep the pressure on for those first few miles, partially as a strategy, partially because I wanted a fast time, and partially because that's just what felt right. We ran together as a pack of 4 through about mile 6 and Eric claims I did a lot of the leading on those miles but I actually think we had a pretty even rotation. I was feeling it by 6 but Eric helped make sure I was keeping contact which was much appreciated.
Rob started to take off around 10k and Jarrett pulled away with him. I tried to go too but I didn't quite have as much in my legs as I needed. Eric was definitely hurting more though and strangely seemed to throw in the white flag at that point with a "good race, Paul" or something... I tried to get him to come with me but he seemed a little toasted. From there, it was just a grind - it's a looooong straight stretch from 7 to 9, and feels even more so when you're just watching the two guys ahead of you slowly pull away. I wasn't really looking at my watch at all at this point so I wasn't sure if I was dying or if those guys were just destroying; in the end it was more the latter than former. I at least figured I couldn't be running THAT badly since Chris Bailey was still pretty close, but I was sure hurting! Fortunately I still had Eric pretty close on my heels for motivation. Apparently the pace slipped a little on that last mile if the watch splits can be trusted, but honestly if I didn't have Jarrett and Rob to compare to, I would have easily called this a pretty well-executed race - I basically just found my limit without a complete implosion.
If I didn't have Kiawah under my belt, I'd be thrilled with this race, but the bar has been moved! With that perfect weather and competition I just thought I might go a little faster, but don't get me wrong, I'm definitely very proud of it and it has to be my 2nd best road race ever and by a good margin. Plus, it comes in the middle of some heavy mileage weeks with some pretty tired legs. Got another EA scalp (not by much!) and that's probably the closest I've been to CB in any race so that's cool I guess, though pretty objectively not great races for both of them. Once again I think I ran this aggressively and focused on the race without obsessing over pace. I barely looked at my watch throughout the race, especially when I realized how ahead of the mile markers our watches were by around mile 4. Had a very fun cooldown on the beach afterwards.
Very fun stuff. Really enjoyed packing it up with those guys and racing each other again. As was the case with Kiawah, I've only officially run two 10ks at a faster pace than this (though I have yet to run a 10k that doesn't go over a bridge), so pretty exciting stuff. Too bad we weren't in the 5k though... would have been an easy $225 to spend at Agave's!
BTW...
F - >52:39 (old PR)
C - 52:39 - 52:07 (Kiawah avg pace for 15k)
B - 52:07 - 51:54 (GL HM pace (Rob's) for 15k)
B+ - 51:54 - 50:55 (Purdy 15k equiv to Kiawah)
A - <50:55
Although I guess in hindsight it's pretty crazy to have an A goal that's essentially "run my best race ever." Maybe I'll make that an A+ and bump this to an A. Or maybe I'll use ☆s again. These are the things that keep me up at night.